WASHINGTON — Saying that the federal government needed to help states avoid further financial turmoil, Gov. David A. Paterson asked Wednesday that Congress immediately provide state governments with a rescue package similar to the one it approved for the banking industry.
Appearing before the House Ways and Means Committee, Mr. Paterson said that New York was already moving to address a budget deficit that he has estimated at $47 billion over the next three and a half years, but that it wouldnot be enough.
“The great states of this country right now are facing huge deficits without the resources to affect it,” the governor said.
The hearing, called by the committee chairman, Representative Charles B. Rangel, also included Gov. Mark Sanford of South Carolina, local officials and union officials. The officials advocate that Congress provide more direct assistance to cities and states as they deal with the effects of the banking industry turmoil.
“We are cutting all we can,” Mr. Paterson told the committee. “Therefore, we feel that targeted, sensible actions by the federal government will provide relief for us now.”
Mr. Rangel praised Mr. Paterson, a longtime friend, for his leadership on fiscal issues.
Mr. Paterson’s appearance on Capitol Hill came a day after he called on state lawmakers to put forward ideas on how to reduce the state budget in preparation for a special legislative session he has called for Nov. 18.
In written testimony he submitted to the committee, Mr. Paterson was even more pointed, criticizing the federal government for not preventing the current economic upheaval and for its lack of attention to the states.
“I firmly believe that if it took only two weeks for the federal government to find $700 billion to bail out Wall Street and bank executives,” he said, “then we ought to be able to find a fraction of that amount to help preserve essential services at the state level.”
He added, “The results of federal inaction could be devastating in every corner of our nation.”
In the written testimony, Mr. Paterson repeatedly invoked the economic damage resulting from the Sept. 11 attacks, saying that the threat to New York’s economy was in many ways far more severe now than it was then.
He said New York and other states were on the verge of finding themselves unable to provide essential social services like unemployment benefits and food stamps and needed federal assistance.
“Just like the financial services industry, we need a partner in the federal government in order to help stave off an impending calamity.”
Mr. Paterson said Congress could help bring relief to the states by increasing spending on food stamps, increasing block grants to states and providing federal dollars to repair roads, bridges and water treatment facilities.
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